Our Hymn of the Day for this Sunday is 729 – “Son of God, Eternal Savior.” This hymn encourages us to love one another as God has shown his love to us in his Son, who is our eternal Savior. It’s just like St. John’s reminder, “This is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, if God loved us so much, we also should love one another” (1 John 4:10, 11).
The hymn was written by Somerset Corry Thomas Lowry, who was born in 1855 in Dublin, Ireland. Lowry was ordained as a deacon in 1879 and a priest in 1880.
Verse one: “Son of God, eternal Savior, source of life and truth and grace, Word made flesh, whose birth among us, hallows all our human race, you our head, who, throned in glory, for your own will ever plead: fill us with your love and pity, heal our wrongs and help our need.”
Jesus Christ was born among us. He is the Word of God made flesh and blood. He is the eternal God who entered the realm of time and space. He became incarnate as the Son of Man to be made like us in every way. The writer to the Hebrews explains the reasoning for the incarnation like this: “Since the children share flesh and blood, [Christ] also shared the same flesh and blood” (Hebrews 2:14). As God and man together in one now “grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). Because the Son of God was now human, he could die, which he did on the Roman cross. But because Jesus remained God, he could also rise from the dead, which he did on the third day. As our crucified and resurrected Savior, the God-Man has ascended to his throne at the Father’s right hand to make intercession for us, to plead our case to God Almighty. As it says in Hebrews, “[Christ] is able to save forever those who come to God through him, because he always lives to plead on their behalf” (Hebrews 7:25).
Verse two: “Bind us all as one together in your Church’s sacred fold, weak and healthy, poor and wealthy, sad and joyful, young and old. Is there want or pain or sorrow? Make us all the burden share. Are there spirits crushed and broken? Teach us, Lord, to soothe their care.”
Jesus unites us together in the sacred sheepfold of the Christian Church. He brings people together from every nation, tribe, people, and language (Revelation 7:9). The Church is made up of people from all kinds of classes and categories – weak and strong, poor and wealthy, sick and healthy. As Christians, we have an obligation to take care of those around us, especially those within the Christian Church. St. Paul advises, “We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the weaknesses of those who are not strong, and not just to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for the good purpose of building him up” (Romans 15:1, 2). Therefore, whenever there are spirits crushed by pain or broken by sorrow, we desire to help bear each other’s burdens. As we bear one another’s burdens, we are fulfilling the law of love that comes from Christ. (Galatians 6:1, 2).
Verse three: “As you, Lord, have lived for others, so may we for others live. Freely have your gifts been granted; freely may your servants give. Yours the gold and yours the silver, yours the wealth of land and sea; we but stewards of your bounty held in solemn trust will be.”
We are stewards and managers of everything God has given us. We are managers of the gold and silver God has gifted us. We use that wealth to further God’s kingdom. We also use that wealth to care for the physical and spiritual needs of those around us. We are God’s stewards who use whatever wealth we have from God to do good for God’s people. St. Paul encourages us, “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who belong to the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10).
Verse four: “Son of God, eternal Savior, source of life and truth and grace, Word made flesh, whose birth among us hallows all our human race, by your praying, by your willing that your people should be one, grant, O grant our hope’s fruition: here on earth your will be done.”
We strive for God’s will to be done here on earth, just as we pray in the second petition of the Lord’s Prayer, “your will be done on earth as in heaven.” Jesus unites us all together as one as he united himself to us as Emmanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:20-23). One of the last prayers Jesus prayed with his disciples before going to Gethsemane to be betrayed and arrested was for unity among his disciples of all ages. Since Jesus prayed and wills that his people should be one, we work hard to establish and keep the unity of peace among us. St. Paul encourages that unity, “Make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).
Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. He established his church as the body of his followers to spread his message of salvation to a lost and dying world. It is our goal to share with others the love of Christ that was first shared with us. We rejoice in our unity and invite others to be part of that unity. As sons and daughters, we go about the business of him who is the “Son of God, Eternal Savior.”